Stocks Higher into Afternoon on Diminished US Virus Lockdown Fears, Stable Long-Term Rates, Technical Buying, Tech/Healthcare Sector Strength

Broad Equity Market Tone:

• Advance/Decline Line: Lower
  

• Sector Performance: Mixed
  

• Volume: Around Average

• Market Leading Stocks: Underperforming
  

Equity Investor Angst:

• Volatility(VIX) 19.4 -10.2%
• Bloomberg Global Risk On/Risk Off Index 2,706.0 +125.0 points

• Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 132.33 +.12%

• Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 10.8 -1.0%

• CBOE S&P 500 Implied Correlation Index 29.5 -1.6% 

• ISE Sentiment Index 106.0  -16.0 points
  

• Total Put/Call 1.04 +18.2%

• NYSE Arms 1.04 +8.3%

Credit Investor Angst:

• North American Investment Grade CDS Index 53.55 -1.8%
  

• US Energy High-Yield OAS 409.60 -2.0%

• European Financial Sector CDS Index 60.39 -1.8%

• Italian/German 10Y Yld Spread 131.0 -4.0 basis points
  

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 84.70 -2.5%
  

• Emerging Market CDS Index 191.34 -1.0%
  

• China Corp. High-Yield Bond USD ETF(KHYB) 33.26 unch.

• 2-Year Swap Spread 20.75 unch.
  

• TED Spread 14.75 +.5 basis point
  

• 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -15.5 -3.5 basis points
  
• MBS  5/10 Treasury Spread  71.5 +1.25 basis points
  
• IHS Markit CMBX BBB- 6 72.5 -.25 basis point
  

Economic Gauges:

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 53.50 -.11%
• 3-Month T-Bill Yield .05% -1.0 basis point
  

• Yield Curve 79.5 -2.5 basis points
  

• China Iron Ore Spot 110.7 USD/Metric Tonne +.1%

• Citi US Economic Surprise Index 35.0 +3.4 points

• Citi Eurozone Economic Surprise Index 7.0 -.7 point
  

• Citi Emerging Markets Economic Surprise Index -13.1 -.7 point

• 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.48 -2.0 basis points
• 91.9%(-.7 percentage point) chance of no change at Jan. 26th meeting, 63.4%(-.8 percentage point) chance of no change at March 16th meeting

US Covid-19:

• 251 new infections/100K people(last 7 days total) -9/100K people
• 47% of Jan. 7th, 2021 peak(highest daily avg. new infections) -2.0 percentage points
  

Overseas Futures:

• Nikkei 225 Futures: Indicating +177 open in Japan 
• China A50 Futures: Indicating +80 open in China

• DAX Futures: Indicating +15 open in Germany

Portfolio:

• Higher: On gains in my tech/consumer discretionary/industrial/medical sector longs
  

• Disclosed Trades:  Covered some of my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges
  

• Market Exposure:  Moved to 100% Net Long